Bad Business
by Annie M1
Summary: What do you do when you run out of options? Mal and his crew are about to find out.


Title: "Bad Business"  
  
Author: Annie M (trekgirl@blueyonder.co.uk)  
  
Series: Firefly  
  
Rating: R  
  
Codes: Mal, Zoe, Crew  
  
Date: June 3rd 2003  
  
Summary: What do you do when you run out of options?  
  
Notes: This is my first attempt at fan fiction in the Firefly universe, so feedback would be much appreciated.   
  
I owe a huge thanks to HawkMoth and Maystone for proofing this puppy and to LJC for some of the translations.   
  
The Pinyin translations used can be found at the end of this story.   
  
Disclaimer: This is a work of fan fiction. No infringement intended to Joss Whedon, Mutant Enemy, or 20th Century Fox TV. (c) Annie M, 3rd June 2003.   
  
This story is also available at my website: http://www.mushy.freeserve.co.uk/anniesweb/ffly/tour.htm   
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
The white-on-white glare of Persephone's daylight illuminated Serenity's cockpit like a mini explosion of suns.   
  
Zoe sat in Wash's lap, her arms around him while she playfully nuzzled his neck and they swayed lazily together in the pilot's chair.   
  
They had a little time to kill before Inara was due to have completed her docket and the captain and Jayne returned with the details of their latest job.   
  
Wash's comfortable and familiar body was as a mite more appealing to Zoe than checking on what the others were up to while she'd been left in charge. No doubt Shepherd Book was keeping a watchful eye on River while Kaylee was probably trying to charm Simon into watching her work on the engines or some such.  
  
Zoe lifted her head, giving Wash the opportunity to kiss his way along her throat and around the faithful leather that encircled her neck. Didn't matter where they were or how many times they'd been together, Wash's touches always sent little ripples of pleasure shooting up her spine, making her toes curl in reciprocation.  
  
"You know," Wash murmured against her throat, "we'll need to make a fuel stop soon. We've only got enough to get us through to the end of the week."  
  
"Oh, it'll be shiny," Zoe murmured, pulling her fingers lightly through Wash's hair. "Captain's got a job lined up from Badger. We'll be re-fuelled in a day or two."   
  
"Shiny," Wash agreed, sliding his hands along the waistband of her pants, his fingers reaching up under the bottom of Zoe's blouse to touch her skin there. Changing the subject he asked suggestively, "Think we'll ever find that naked beach?"   
  
Zoe couldn't help laughing out loud at Wash's suggestion. The warm, strong, sun on her back and Wash's loving arms around her were giving her a pleasurable buzz. "The sooner, the better, husband!"  
  
Wash's rejoinder was a grin that ended in a deep, wet, deliciously long kiss.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Mal eased the throttle down on the mule as he guided it up Serenity's ramp and into the cargo hold. As he brought the small vehicle to a stop, Jayne jumped off the back, toting a sack of supplies over his shoulder.  
  
"You stow those food-stuffs in the kitchen, I'll close up here," Mal directed while shutting the motor off on the mule.  
  
"Sure, Cap," Jayne replied, adjusting his load. "Hey, you want me to round everyone up, tell 'em the plan?"  
  
"No, I'll head up to the bridge, let Zoe and Wash know what the job is, you meet us there after," Mal said, indicating the load Jayne was carrying.  
  
The mercenary shrugged and casually sauntered away. "You're the boss."   
  
Mal couldn't help the small smile that threatened the corners of his mouth. It was good to have a real job again, he thought. Sir Warrick Harrow's recommendation of them to an associate, through Badger, was a pleasing thing indeed. And if this new contact on Boros worked out the way Mal felt it could, then there was a real possibility for his crew to earn a bona fide contract; finally have some semi-regular and well-paying jobs to boot.   
  
/\~/\  
  
"Hey, Inara!" Kaylee greeted the companion warmly, as she exited her shuttle. "Did you have good sex?"   
  
Inara joined Kaylee on the companionway and they embraced briefly before Inara stood back from the young engineer, her hands on Kaylee's shoulders.   
  
"The term is 'accommodated the clients', meimei," Inara replied with mock severity.   
  
Kaylee frowned. "Sex no good then, huh?"   
  
Inara shook her head in consternation and rolled her eyes. "What did I miss while I was away?"  
  
"Not much," Kaylee replied happily as they continued to walk along. "Captain got a job from Badger."  
  
"Oh?" Inara wondered idly about the sort of "business" Badger was getting them into this time. Badger's deals--as well paying as they could be--had a tendency to put the crew, and especially Mal, in mortal danger.   
  
"Yeah, not sure what it is yet, cap's going over it with Zoe and Wash. I'm heading to the kitchen, Shepherd Book and me are making dinner."  
  
"Is Doctor Tam going to help too?"  
  
"'Nara!" Kaylee practically squealed trying to look outraged by the suggestion.  
  
Inara put a sympathetic arm around Kaylee's shoulder. "No progress then?"  
  
Kaylee shook her head miserably. "It's like he wants to, but he don't know how!"  
  
"Give him time, Kaylee. I think Simon's still getting used to the idea of living on the fringes. Besides, I think it's sweet that he wants to take things slowly and treat you with a little respect, don't you?"  
  
Kaylee made a face. "Respect's nice and all, but couldn't he fast forward a little bit?"  
  
"Give it time."  
  
Kaylee shook her head. "He's a man ain't he," she mumbled as they made their way towards the kitchen. "How much time is he gonna need?"  
  
/\~/\  
  
"A man on Boros wants us to move some material for him. Badger says he's an associate of Sir Harrow's, so we've come highly recommended," Mal explained from the co-pilot's chair on the bridge.   
  
Zoe was standing with her arms resting over Wash's shoulders. "What are we moving, sir?" she enquired.  
  
"More livestock?" asked Wash.  
  
"Ain't rightly sure. We'll get the details when we arrive. He's expecting us in three days, and from what Badger told us, this could be the start of a lucrative deal. Three days ain't a problem for you, is it, Wash?"  
  
"Shouldn't be," answered the pilot. "If we make a fuel stop. I hope we're smuggling beagles this time," he remarked, looking up at his wife.  
  
"How much fuel we got?" Mal asked.  
  
Wash turned to check his console. "We've got enough to hit Boros, but not enough to get us off the ground again." He turned to look up at Zoe. "How poor are we again, sweetie?"  
  
Zoe swatted the top of Wash's head playfully. "Not in public, dear."  
  
"We get our man to advance us some before we close the deal, right?" Jayne suggested from where he was leaning against the bulkhead,   
  
Mal thought on it. Squinting, he gazed out of the windows of Serenity to the unseen but bustling surface of Persephone's Eavesdown docks.   
  
"Mal?" Jayne prompted.  
  
"Yeah, we'll cut a deal," Mal answered, his eyes never turning away from the bright expanse outside. "Prep the ship, Wash, we're leaving now," he ordered.   
  
"Okay, we'll be in the air in--"  
  
Wash was cut off in mid sentence by the sound of the cortex monitor flashing an incoming message. Wash checked the identity code then turned towards his captain. "It's for you."  
  
After a quick nod of the head Mal and Wash traded places. Mal slipped into the pilot's seat and activated the view screen. The unkempt beard and bad teeth, topped off with the familiar crushed derby filled the screen with the thug's image.   
  
"Badger," Mal acknowledged.  
  
"I got a spot a bad news for you, Captain Reynolds," Badger began.   
  
Badger didn't sound or look too upset to be delivering so called bad news, thought Mal. "And what might that be?"  
  
"Job's gone south, mate. Our man on Boros got a case of cold feet."  
  
Whatever the problem was, it couldn't be that bad. "What's the story?"   
  
"The Alliance, Captain. Seems our man's about to have himself an audit with the law. News just came through, and as you can imagine, any notion he might have had about pulling a fast one's pretty much been scuppered, know what I mean?"  
  
"Any idea on how long this audit is going to take?"  
  
Badger scratched at his chin. "It don't matter how long; the job's a dodo. Dead. He ain't gonna deal."  
  
Mal felt his stomach lurch. "We got no job?" He could feel the eyes of the other three boring into the back of his skull.   
  
"That's what I said."  
  
Jayne interrupted from behind Mal. "Well, what else you got? You can't leave us hanging."  
  
Badger ignored Jayne and spoke directly to the captain. "Come on, Mal, you know how this works. When I got something I call you; you do the business. In this case, the business walked before you could is all."  
  
Mal gritted his teeth at Badger's inference. The crew's debacle with Niska was a topic he'd rather forget, not that he was ever likely to. "You got to have something else for us, Badger," he insisted.  
  
"Sorry, Captain. Everything current is being taken care of. I've got nothing else to offer you. Times are hard everywhere, mate. You know how it goes."  
  
"We could just sit here and find ourselves another job."  
  
"I don't suggest it, pal. This planet's crawling with Alliance, and I don't need you and yours making unnecessary trouble in establishments where I have influence. It's bad for business."   
  
"We made a long trip we didn't have to 'cause you said you had a lucrative proposition for us. Now, last minute, you're saying it's a no go? You got to admit, you owe us something here." Mal was lying through his teeth about the first part, but he wasn't about to just fly off into the blackness of space without getting something out this.  
  
After weeks of small supply drops to the outer moons, they really needed a job that could cover more than the crew's basic necessities. Mal knew the fuel supplies were getting low, and more importantly he knew they *needed* this job, so when Badger had sent word; they'd come running faster than core citizens to U-Day celebrations.   
  
Mal's pleading tirade however just seemed to piss Badger off.   
  
"I don't owe you nothing; I'm the one who's being doing you the favours here, mate, so don't be getting all high and mighty with me again. When I do get something you'll be the first to hear about it, in the meantime I've got nothing doing."   
  
Badger continued to glare into the screen. After a few seconds of uneasy silence the would be kingpin shrugged his shoulders and said with a smirk, "Look, it's not a guarantee, but I heard that there might be work for someone like you on Talos. I hear they're looking for crews who can move things with a minimum of fuss.   
  
"The word's been out for a little while now, so sooner you can get there, better chance you might have. There's a woman there named Drooda; she's well known. Mention me and you might get lucky. That's the best I can do. See you around, Captain."  
  
Badger cut the link and Mal was left facing the annoying purple logo of the cortex default screen.   
  
Talos; a slim chance was better than none, he thought. This "Drooda" might shape up, but Mal knew better than to trust to luck. He had a couple of his own contacts on Talos if a deal with Drooda fell through, although it had been more than a year since the crew had been there. And a lot could change in a year.   
  
Tamade! Why couldn't things ever go smooth?  
  
The silence that followed Badger's news had left the three numb.  
  
"Well," Wash said, arms crossed and rocking back on his heels, "that was... different. Definitely a rejection, but--different."   
  
"That ain't right," said Jayne. "Next time I see that sorry looking *shi da koudai* I'm gonna cut on him some."  
  
Zoe remained silent.  
  
Mal got up slowly and turned, moving towards Jayne by the door. Jayne stepped aside to let him pass without further comment. As he exited Mal put one hand on the door frame and paused. "Set a course for Talos," he said, without turning back and then he was gone.   
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
Five days later Serenity was cleared for landing and touched down at the River Creek docks on Talos. Naturally, as was the way with the naming of places outside the central planets, the docks had no river or creek to speak of within thirty-five miles of the port.  
  
"Zoe, why haven't we been here in over a year?" Mal asked, as they walked together with Jayne down a busy and dusty thoroughfare. In an unusual twist, it had felt good to him to be on solid ground again.   
  
The news from Badger had put Mal in a foul mood for most of the trip, and the tension he'd been feeling had only eased as Serenity had entered the atmosphere of its destination. Talos was a small but thriving planet on the other side of the quadrant, far enough away from a heavy Alliance presence, but not so far on the fringes that the planet didn't have its own Federal constabulary.  
  
It wasn't as if the crew had been accusing him of anything, but Mal felt the responsibility of their welfare and safekeeping deeply. In his opinion, not having a solid job offer was the same as being on the drift and that made him feel inadequate and worse--not worthy of his crew's trust.   
  
Mal suspected that Zoe knew getting off the ship was his chance to redeem himself and his pride, but as it was with them, they didn't speak of it, and even if pressed by Wash, Mal was sure she'd never reveal it.  
  
They passed street hawkers, and children playing in the dirt; men and women on horseback and a couple of Alliance soldiers, rifles casually held in the crook of their arms as they made their patrol, sweat visible on their faces as it trickled down from under their shiny domed helmets.  
  
"I didn't like it, sir," Zoe answered with her usual brevity.  
  
"What's not to like?" Mal said, pointing out buildings along the way. "They've got schools, and a hospital over there. Hey now, look, is that a sanitation plant?"  
  
Jayne followed the direction of Mal's finger and shrugged.  
  
"No sir, that's an abattoir," Zoe answered.  
  
Mal stopped in the street and looked over at the building again. "You sure?" he asked, sounding unconvinced.  
  
"The sign kind of gives it away," Zoe explained, looking straight ahead and stepping out of an oncoming quad-bike's way.  
  
"Huh," Mal said, finally seeing the sign; a plain board hanging from the roof of the building and roughly painted in white. "Must have been the sun in my eyes."  
  
"Yes, sir," Zoe answered with a knowing smile.  
  
"But what's not to like?" he asked again, walking quickly to catch up with them as Zoe led them off the main street towards what looked like a partly abandoned wooden building.  
  
"Is that the place?" Jayne asked, adjusting his wide brimmed sun hat.  
  
"Looks like," said Mal, moving unconsciously to check the gun at his hip.   
  
"Think this Drooda will deal?" asked Zoe as she visually scouted out the area.  
  
"We'll see. I'll do the talking, just follow my lead."  
  
/\~/\  
  
Inara was considering her options.   
  
The scented burning incense of white plum sandal and the silence of her shuttle was a soothing relaxant after the last few days of sharing close quarters.   
  
Strictly speaking she didn't need to engage herself in any new dealings on Talos. Her monetary funds had been building up quite nicely, but the thought of expanding her client base and reputation was always appealing.   
  
Talos was essentially a backwater trading post when viewed against the glittering trappings of any planet in the Core, but as a rim-world, it was fairly bursting with opportunities. More importantly, from Inara's perspective, Talosian society, limited as it was, knew what a Companion was for.  
  
Since the captain's gruff announcement over the comm that Serenity would be heading to Talos instead of Boros, Inara had been using her time to field prospective business candidates on the planet.  
  
Pressing a delicately manicured finger to the computer screen she listened again to the introductions of her most likely clients on this trip. It was an inconvenience for her that they had no idea exactly how long their stay on Talos would last, but she'd cope--as usual.   
  
Inara's concentration began to drift as her shuttle echoed to the predictable sounds of men and women making their case for employing her affections. Focusing inwards, she found her thoughts drifting to Captain Malcolm Reynolds. She hoped the planned meeting with Drooda yielded something for him, though she sometimes wondered why someone as principled as Mal couldn't seem to raise his ambitions above a life of seemingly endless petty-theft.  
  
Mal was intelligent, loyal, thoughtful and attractive, but he could be crude, cruel and determinedly obstinate. Inara didn't need a Companion's training to know that Mal kept his deepest feelings hidden under a façade of confident indifference. She suspected that he had no idea how much about himself he gave away in that expressive face of his.   
  
The brief reverie was broken when her cortex monitor alerted her to an incoming call. Collecting her thoughts and taking a deep breath Inara touched the screen to life and smiled demurely at the incoming transmission.  
  
The live image was of an angular looking Asian male wearing an Alliance uniform. "Inara Serra," he said with friendly confidence. "I can't tell you how much I've been looking forward to seeing you these last few days. If I'm not being too presumptuous, we will finally get to meet in person, won't we?"  
  
"Commander Choi," she replied sweetly, "We will indeed. Your invitation was too flattering not to respond to."  
  
The commander smiled back. "It is so rare that we see the bloom of true beauty out here, Miss Serra. You're a delicate taste of home," he sighed wistfully.  
  
Inara blushed, hoping it would come across through the link, and sounding completely delighted she added for good measure, "Please Commander, call me Inara."  
  
/\~/\  
  
Kaylee pulled out another fuel cell and handed it over to Wash. "That's the last one," she said, sliding out from under the fuel-housing shelf in the engine room.  
  
Wash bundled the cells into one arm and reached out to help Kaylee up from the floor with his free hand.  
  
"We won't be going anywhere unless the cap'n can find a job for us," Kaylee sighed as Wash pulled her to her feet.  
  
"Can't we find a way to get some more life out of these things?" Wash asked. "One of my first piloting jobs was on a ship that specialised in recycling fuel cells. Don't ask me how they did it, but I think for the couple of months I was with them, we only stopped once for fuel."  
  
"Must have been a D-Class 80," Kaylee said, taking the cells from him.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Cells on those are partly powered by the ship's main-engines. They need less fuelling, but it causes problems in a tight spot. Anything happens to the ship you're drifting, or more likely blow a hole right through the ship if the fuel leaks into the electrical feeds."  
  
Wash's jaw dropped. "It's a flying bomb?"  
  
"Pretty much," Kaylee went on cheerfully. "But if you have a good engineer, and regular maintenance, they can fly for years, so my Daddy used to say."  
  
"But they recycled them!" he went on in disbelief.  
  
Kaylee shrugged. "Sure, but the D-80 cells are cheap. You sell 'em off to settlers and such, right?"  
  
Wash gave a bewildered nod, his mind still trying to get over how ignorant he must have been in his youth. No wonder his next employer had hired him on the spot when he'd mentioned flying a D-80.  
  
"See, they work fine in heating generators 'cause the housing element can take the power spikes."  
  
Wash shook his head in an effort to get back into the present and concentrate on what Kaylee was saying. "So, we could sell these?"  
  
Kaylee looked to the bundle in her arms. "Not for much. See the Firefly fuel cells ain't the same as the D-80's. If you strip these down and remove the interlock chamber they can be used as spare parts, but all we'd get is enough maybe for one fuel cell, and that ain't enough to take us anywhere."  
  
Wash took a cell from Kaylee's arms and sat down on the floor next to the main engine. He looked around until he spotted a toolbox. Pulling it towards him, he reached in and pulled out a small wrench, and then set to work on unscrewing the top of the cell. "It may not be much," he said as he set to work, "but one fuel cell's better than none, right?"  
  
Kaylee smiled down at him, joining him on the floor with the other spent cells.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Five men carrying various types of shotguns had met them as they'd entered the ramshackle warehouse and were led through a series of large, darkly lit storage areas.   
  
Each room seemed to house merchandise and Mal spotted boxes and crates piled a top each other, technical gadgetry, spare parts and even what looked like the outline of ground transports in the semi-darkness.  
  
Serenity's cargo hold could never hope to accommodate the contents of a single one of these hangers, Mal mused.  
  
Passing into yet another large space the armed men turned to them and told them to wait. Mal watched one of the men approach a woman and whisper something in her ear.  
  
Drooda, Mal surmised.  
  
To call Drooda overweight would have been an understatement. She was an enormous woman, one who might have been called pretty in her youth, if you would have been able to distinguish her head from her neck and shoulders. She appeared to be middle-aged, possibly younger; bad skin and greying blonde hair made it difficult to say. She was sitting in what appeared to be a custom made chair, judging from the bright metal frames and struts that supported it.  
  
Motioning with a flabby arm, she waved them closer while Jayne hung back.  
  
The woman greeted Mal and Zoe through a haze of tobacco, blowing circles of smoke that disappeared up into the eaves.  
  
"So you're Malcolm Reynolds," Drooda said, inhaling on her cigarette when Mal stood before her. "Badger sent word you might be coming my way."  
  
Mal gave a rueful smile. "Word is you're looking for people, and my crew's the best there is."  
  
Drooda gave a low chuckle, which quickly disintegrated into a low-pitched wheeze. "Badger said you get the job done," she managed once she'd recovered her breathing. "But I also hear say that you *shi gechu* a job with Adelei Niska."  
  
"That was a misunderstanding--"  
  
"Word is that you and yours done shot up some of his men and left Niska for dead."  
  
Mal exchanged a look with Zoe, but said nothing.   
  
"Oh yeah, I sure heard of you, Captain," Drooda laughed between puffs.  
  
Sliding his hand down his duster to the edge of his holster, Mal asked, "Is this going to be a problem?"  
  
"Now don't be getting tetchy, boy," Drooda said, her eyes following Mal's hand. Four of her guards stepped forward, guns raised. "I wanted to know if what I heard was true. I guess it is," she said slowly while she stubbed out her cigarette and signalled for her men to stay their ground.  
  
Impatiently, Mal started, "If you got a job--"   
  
"I got jobs," she interrupted. "But I ain't got one for you. Niska and I have had dealings in the past--good business, and we respect each other. I ain't about to put a wrench in the works, have him know someone who disrespected him so is getting fat off it. That's bad for business. My business," Drooda said coldly.  
  
Mal couldn't believe what he was hearing. "And you're gonna let our problems with that old bastard get between you and a perfectly good opportunity for trade?" he asked evenly.  
  
"That 'old bastard's' a friend of mine, Captain," Drooda said as she reached into an ornate box on the table before her and pulled out another cigarette. "Now I ain't saying what you done wasn't maybe what he had coming to him, but Niska puts a lot of work my way, and I ain't stupid enough to let good business slip off the edge on account of you."  
  
"So that's it; you let us come down here for that?"  
  
"I'm sorry, Captain. I know it's a disappointment to you."  
  
"Too bad we couldn't work something out," Mal said. Signalling to Zoe they turned to leave, Jayne falling into step beside them.  
  
"Trouble is, Captain Reynolds," Drooda shouted out to them when they'd neared the frame door they'd come in through, "if you're thinking of getting work anywhere on this moon, I guarantee it ain't gonna happen."   
  
Mal paused mid-step and turned around. "How's that?" He could see the outline of Drooda in the back of the warehouse, her massive frame lighting up like a whale emerging from the sea as she lit another cigarette.  
  
"I'm the woman on this world, see. All the jobs that ain't Alliance, legit or otherwise, go through me. So, when I tell you there ain't no job for you here, you ain't gonna find a job anywhere, not on this planet. But best of luck to you though, Captain, I admire a man who can stand up to Adelei and come out with his liver still intact."  
  
"Thanks," Mal said evenly, turning to face the door. "You send him my best when he throws another pot roast your way, you hear?"  
  
Over the unmistakeable sound of weapons being cocked in their direction Mal could hear Drooda's wheezy laughter. "Let 'em go, boys," she chortled to her henchmen. "I can take a good joke, and that there fella is awful pretty to these here eyes. You get yourself straight with Niska," Drooda advised Mal. "You do that and I'll have plenty of jobs for you, Malcolm Reynolds."  
  
/\~/\  
  
Mal was about ready to kill someone. Moving in angry silence he walked quickly, Zoe and Jayne a few paces behind, towards the nearest saloon. He needed to think, collect his thoughts and find some way out of the tangled chain of events that seemed to dog their every move.   
  
Stepping through the seedy tavern's doors Mal made his way directly to the bar, throwing down a few coins as he ordered. The shot burned on its way down Mal's throat and he had to concentrate on keeping his hand steady when he pulled the glass away from his lips. Jayne wasted no time ordering his own brew, and Mal could feel the mercenary's eyes on him when he motioned the barkeep over for another shot.  
  
"What?" Mal demanded angrily.  
  
Jayne raised his eyebrows over his tankard of beer and swallowed. "Hey, now, don't be blaming me for what just happened back there," he said defensively. "Messing with Niska was your idea."  
  
Mal turned a furious gaze on Jayne, but before he could react further Zoe was standing between them, her mass of curly hair obstructing his view.   
  
"Jayne," she said, in a warning tone. Turning to face her captain Zoe motioned to a small table in the back and said quietly. "Sir, let's sit down and regroup."  
  
Mal could barely trust himself to speak, but Zoe's calm request was enough to get him moving.  
  
"Jayne, you stay here," Zoe advised following Mal's stiff back across the room. Jayne shrugged, but obliged, turning back to his drink at the bar.  
  
They sat in silence for several minutes and Zoe watched patrons enter and leave the grimy but well stocked saloon while Mal brooded over his drink.   
  
Zoe eventually broke the silence between them. "We need to find a job, sir."   
  
Without looking up Mal spat, "I'm well aware of that fact, Zoe."   
  
"We can't find one sitting here drinking, sir," she replied coolly.  
  
Mal brought his head up and looked directly at his first mate. He noticed that contrary to her remark, she wasn't drinking, didn't even have a glass before her. Instead she sat watching him, her elbows leaning on the table, face calm, dark brown eyes reflecting no hint of accusation. Mal took a deep breath.  
  
"Zoe, maybe you hadn't noticed but it seems to me all employment opportunities on this here planet just crawled up that *heng, edu nuren's hou bian*."  
  
"I heard what she said, sir, but what about Sunshine and Dunlop; we've had dealings with them before, and besides, she can't really have *everyone* on her plate?"   
  
An image appeared in Mal's mind of Drooda, tucking into endless platters of a roasted and succulent workforce, and he laughed suddenly. "She was fat, wasn't she?"  
  
"That she was, sir. Think it's possible she ever leaves that chair?"  
  
"Not without a crane; besides, I figure she was sitting on a commode."   
  
"That's some throne!" They both cracked up at that.  
  
Jayne ambled over to their table. "So, what's the plan, Cap?"   
  
Spirits slightly restored Mal answered, "I have a couple of other contacts on this planet. Let's go pay 'em a visit."  
  
/\~/\  
  
Finding Mal's contacts had been hard work. Dunlop, an old-timer who lived in the hills beyond the main town, had practically retired. He was happy to run his little sour hooch business from the comforts of his two-roomed wooden A-frame. He'd confessed to Mal that it was easier to supply directly to Drooda, who paid him a good price and could distribute his liquor further a field than he could ever manage on his own.  
  
Sunshine Hicks, a bear of a man with most of his front teeth missing, was even harder to find. Dunlop hadn't seen him in months, suggesting that maybe he'd finally left the planet, as he was always threatening to do.  
  
A full day later it was Zoe and Book who found him, up on a solitary hill that over looked River Creek docks. Calling Mal on her hand held comm unit, she'd told him to call off the search.   
  
"Well, where's he at?" Mal had demanded.  
  
"The Shepherd had a good notion, sir," Zoe explained, glancing around the small churchyard. "The local preacher recognised the description and well... I'm standing over his grave."   
  
Shepherd Book was kneeling by Zoe's side, praying quietly next to a simple tombstone marker while she delivered the news. "Sunshine's dead, Captain."  
  
There followed a long silence before Mal's tired voice came over the comm again.  
  
"Both of you come on back to the ship."  
  
/\~/\  
  
Mal hated to admit it, but he was becoming desperate. Two days on and they were no closer to finding a job than when they'd first set down on Talos; he and his crew were now officially on the drift--no money, no job, and not much in the way of prospects.   
  
Stepping into the dining area for their customary evening meal, Mal sighed with relief to see all of his crew there. Not that he'd expected them to bolt at the continuing bad news, but it was a comfort none-the less.  
  
Inara was present too he noted, but he couldn't decide if he was pleased to see her because she was sticking with them, or because he knew that at least her own dealings had remained unaffected.  
  
Mal seated himself at the head of the table, Inara to his right and Jayne on his left. Simon and River were seated next to Jayne; Book, Wash and Zoe on the opposite side of the table, Kaylee sat at the other end, facing him.   
  
Helping himself to the various dried but colourful protein blocks on display, Mal started to eat, ignoring Book and the crew's bowed heads as they paused in silent prayer over their meal.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Soon they were all eating, passing each other servers of dried food and old bread, their conversation muted. Taking the pitcher of cider and pouring a glass for himself and River, Simon decided to broach the subject that everyone else seemed to be avoiding.  
  
"Captain," he asked, "if we can't find work here, what do you intend to do?"   
  
"Who's this *we*?" Jayne snapped, reaching for more protein biscuits.  
  
Simon ignored him. "You said yourself, Captain, that there's an Alliance base on this planet. You can't expect River and me to stay cooped up here on the ship indefinitely."  
  
"The captain knows that, son," Book admonished lightly.   
  
Inara turned to Mal and spoke quietly. "I think I know where you can get a job, Mal."  
  
"Wash and me were able to sell off our dead fuel cells this morning," Kaylee offered.  
  
Wash smiled encouragingly at her from across the table.  
  
"And what good was that?" blurted Jayne. "Ain't worth more than a peek at a whore's ankles," he said, grinning across at Inara.  
  
Inara gave Jayne a cutting look, muttering, "*Dongwu*," before turning back to Mal. The captain remained detached, appearing to ignore her as he gulped his cider.  
  
"And how much money did you make today, Jayne?" Wash asked sarcastically. "We're all dying to hear about how much you were *paid* to get drunk this afternoon."  
  
Over the growing commotion, River had stopped eating and was playing with her hair. "He has ideas, but he's afraid," she said.  
  
"You spying on me, little man?" Jayne demanded.  
  
Wash shook his head. "I knew it."  
  
Simon tried to get Mal's attention again. "Captain--"  
  
"Everyone, please," said Book. "We don't need to be at each other's throats at a time like this."   
  
"Stay out of this, preacher, it don't concern you," Jayne growled, his stare fixed on Wash.  
  
"You better take that look of your face," Zoe directed caustically at the mercenary from beside her husband. "I don't much like it."  
  
Jayne opened his mouth to speak then shut it, moving his gaze back to his plate.  
  
"Mal, did you hear me? I said *a job*," Inara tried again, raising her voice.  
  
The table quieted with Inara's revelation and they all turned to face her.  
  
Jayne was the first to react. "A job you say?" Forgetting all about his wrangle with Wash he continued with enthusiasm. "Where? How much?"  
  
Inara turned to Mal; he was finally looking at her, but still said nothing.  
  
Looking around the table Inara guardedly gave a few details. "A client I've recently had dealings with here has need of crew."   
  
"A client?" asked Book.  
  
"Yes," she answered. "He's the respectable sort and when he mentioned his situation I thought perhaps you could help. You being Mal, not you specifically, Shepherd," she added quickly, seeing the preacher's startled look.  
  
"That's great, Inara, isn't it great?" Kaylee said excitedly looking from the companion to her captain.  
  
Inara gave Kaylee a guarded smile before turning back to face Mal. "He's willing to meet you. I can send him a wave and arrange it, if you're interested," she said casually.  
  
Mal looked around the table at his crew; their expressions were equal parts hope and scepticism. Finally turning to the Inara he asked brutally, "You fixing to turn this boat into a floating brothel?"  
  
/\~/\  
  
Inara shook her head in disgust. She should have known Mal would react like this--the stubborn brute just couldn't help himself. Their beleaguered situation was bad enough, but for her to be the one to possibly get them out of their dire straights--and she a mere whore--it was probably more than the dolt could handle.  
  
Pushing her chair back she moved away from the table. "I was trying to help!" she said angrily. "But if you'd rather let everyone starve to death or worse...." She couldn't bring herself to finish, hastily making her way from the dining area.  
  
"Inara, wait!" Shepherd Book was on her heels in a flash with a restraining but light hold on her arm. "The boy can be foolish, child, but I'm sure even he realises he can't spurn your offer outright, not before hearing you out," he said, turning to give Mal a stern look of reproach.   
  
Inara let Book guide her gently back into the main dining area. Mal had moved to into the kitchen and he stood against the counter, thumbs casually hanging from his braces.  
  
"This 'respectable' guy, who is he working for?" Mal asked.   
  
Book, still standing close to her, gave an encouraging nod and her shoulder a sympathetic squeeze before letting go.   
  
The preacher's simple touch renewed her resolve and dampened down her own instinctive anger and hurt over Mal's cutting remark. She knew she shouldn't care so much, or react so overtly to him, but all of her years in the Academy had never prepared her for the walking contradiction that was Malcolm Reynolds.  
  
Preparing herself for another insult she said as calmly as she could, "He's an Alliance Commander."  
  
/\~/\  
  
"*Tamade diyu*," Mal sighed. "Did the *quan zhou pa zhu zhengzai benren sou haishi mouwuma?*" he cursed angrily.  
  
"We'd be working for the Alliance?" Simon spun around in his chair to face the companion.  
  
River was smiling to herself and playing with her food. "Like apple bits, they use you up and spit you out, " she whispered. "Scared. Weak."  
  
"How could we help the Alliance?" Book asked.  
  
"We can't," Simon said, his voice rising. "If they find us--"  
  
Raising a staying hand in Simon's direction Book asked again, "What would we be expected to do?"   
  
Inara glanced at Mal. His arms were folded against his chest and he was shaking his head, but he looked towards her at Book's question, nodding for her to continue.  
  
"The Alliance have a small training moon on the edge of this sector. Several days ago Commander Choi sent a unit of a dozen men out there to return with some technical equipment. They haven't been heard from since," Inara explained.  
  
Mal snorted dismissively. "They don't need us. They can easily signal one of their big almighty cruisers to go find 'em."  
  
"He's tried that," Inara replied. "But there's only a small Alliance presence in this sector as it is. The earliest a cruiser could get here would be a week."  
  
"So they wait a few days," said Zoe, still at the table.  
  
Inara turned towards the former soldier. "They're not coming," she clarified. "Apparently Talos nor the training moon are considered a high priority. The Alliance expects the commander to wait another week before contacting them again. They won't even consider sending a ship out this way until he does."  
  
"What about this equipment the Feds were moving, don't they care about that?" asked Mal.  
  
Inara shook her head. "Whatever it is, it's not considered important enough to send a team out right away. Commander Choi's worried that local pirates might have attacked the moon, but he doesn't have the man power here to conduct his own investigation."  
  
Mal was incredulous. "And they want us to go out there and do their dirty work for them?"   
  
"Choi's willing to pay you, and I might add that it's likely more than you would have made for that job with Badger."  
  
"Now that's what I'm talking about!" shouted Jayne.  
  
"But even if we find these men, we'd have to let them onto the ship. River and I wouldn't be safe," Simon argued.  
  
Mal was shaking his head. "Inara, I appreciate what you done, truly, but ain't no way I can work for those bastards. It just ain't gonna happen."  
  
"But you need a job, Mal."  
  
"Captain," Book queried. "What choice do you have? Drooda, as I understand it, has made it quite plain that she controls all aspects of trade on this planet. Who else are we going to work for if not the Alliance?"  
  
"Preacher's right, Cap," Jayne agreed. "We already tried those other contacts of yours, plus some. Ain't no one dealing on this here rock without her."  
  
"It's just one job, Cap'n," Kaylee said from the table. "And maybe it wouldn't be so bad. One job can't hurt, right?"  
  
Simon leaned across the table in disbelief. "I can't believe this," he muttered. "Kaylee, don't you see it's too risky?"  
  
"I guess it is," she said softly. "But, Simon, we need to be flying again. Serenity's no good stuck on land, for any of us."   
  
Turning towards his first mate, Mal called, "Zoe?"   
  
Zoe straightened her spine at the table, sitting a little higher in her chair. "I'm against it, sir," she spoke in a voice that remained as unruffled as ever. "We start living in Alliance's pockets and before too long we'll be so used to the scraps they throw us, we'll never get out from under. Seen it happen."  
  
Wash spoke up next to her. "Baby, I know this is a rough deal, and I'm not exactly excited by the prospect of working with these guys either, but we're kind of out of options now, don't you think?"  
  
Avoiding her husband's gaze Zoe focused her attention on Mal. "It's your call, sir."  
  
"Won't get under," River said enigmatically, smiling at Zoe. "Just spit us out."   
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
Once he'd been ushered into Commander Choi's small office Mal refused the offered seat, standing erectly, hands clasped behind his back.   
  
Choi remained seated behind his desk, briefly acknowledging Mal's presence with a flick of his head, which simultaneously dismissed his aide. The commander didn't stand, or offer to shake Mal's hand, preferring to appear engaged in the report on his otherwise bare, shiny, grey desk.  
  
Mal took in the sterile décor of the commander's office as he continued to be ignored. The rest of the room was just like Choi's desk--grey with hints of white, spotlessly clean and utterly inhospitable in its starkness.  
  
"It seems we owe you a debt of thanks," Choi said, finally looking up from his papers.  
  
"Thanks?" Mal asked, a little confused by Choi's opening gambit. "We haven't discussed--"  
  
"It says here that you assisted a Commander Harken a few months back," the commander interrupted easily, eyes downcast as he turned over a page from his report. "I'm grateful," he said, sounding it.  
  
Mal swallowed. "Sure," he said awkwardly.  
  
Now that he'd finally got a look at him, Mal considered Choi's appearance. He was about Mal's age with straight black cropped hair in the usual Alliance style. Choi's skin, lying taut over his features, was tanned and lined. His eyes were almond shaped, as if made by a precise incision, and they stared up at him unblinking. The grey uniform he wore was as spotless as everything else Mal had seen since entering the Fed compound.  
  
"One good deed doesn't elevate you though," Choi said coolly. "You and your crew are still low-life scum and thieves as far as I'm concerned," he continued in his flat, even tone.   
  
Mal curled his fists, which were still behind his back and leaning closer to Choi's desk he snapped briskly, "And I appreciate your candour; now you wanted to meet because?"   
  
Choi didn't flinch, but leaned back in his chair slightly. "Miss Serra's informed you of some of the details, I understand?"  
  
Raising himself slightly and backing away from the desk, Mal nodded.  
  
"This is an opportunity... Captain," Choi uttered Mal's rank as if he were searching for a more appropriate title. "To prove me wrong about you, if you can."  
  
"I ain't here to prove a damn thing, just do a job, if you ever get to it," Mal responded shortly.  
  
Choi smiled, leaning his elbows onto his desk. "This isn't the first time we've lost contact with one of our moons in this sector. We've had some trouble with raiders, pirates and the like over the last few months--wherever we have a minimal presence--but I take offence when it happens in my own back yard, you understand.  
  
"Morfan, one of our training moons, has a complement of thirty-six Alliance soldiers at all times. I sent in a unit to return with equipment for use here on Talos. As you're aware we haven't heard a word from them since they set down, over a week ago.  
  
"What I want you to do is go in and find out what happened to those men. If there's anyone still alive down there, I want you to bring them back."  
  
"And the equipment you were after?" Mal asked.  
  
"That doesn't concern you, besides, if that moon was hit by bandits the soldiers would have destroyed it before it fell into their hands."  
  
Mal smiled tightly. "Well, that's a comfort."  
  
"You'll be expected to report back on all of your findings when you return, and as agreed through Miss. Serra, we'll pay you a quarter of the agreed price now, the rest after your return and report. Do we have a deal?"  
  
  
  
"What if we run into any trouble while we're looking for your boys?"  
  
"I'll expect you to deal with it. Bring back 'prisoners' if you like; you'll be compensated."  
  
Mal nodded in approval, but knowing the type of hitches that could arise in a situation dictated by Feds, he sought more details. "So, you're letting us run the show, or are you fixing to come along for the ride?"   
  
Choi gave an exasperated sigh. "Captain Reynolds, you're missing the point; if I had the resources to spare I wouldn't be speaking to you at all!"  
  
Mal felt a grin splitting his face for what felt like the first time in days, and unable to keep the irony out of his voice, he said, "Oh, you need us."   
  
"Let me make this quite clear, *Sergeant*, this is a one time only deal," Choi responded hotly, quickly rising from his chair to lean heavily over his desk. "This job might prove beneficial to you in any future dealings you have with the Alliance. But if you try *zhuang pian* us, I guarantee, you, your crew and that pile of *gos se* you call a ship won't be in the sky for much longer. You'll be spending the rest of your sorry lives breaking rocks on a penal moon, while we sell your ship for the scrap that it is."  
  
"Inara's part of my crew too, " Mal said slowly, ignoring the deliberate dig at his former military status.  
  
Recovering himself, Choi sat back down. "Then I hope you have that lovely lady's welfare at heart," his voice back to its more natural tone. "My assistant will see you off the compound," he continued dismissively, face drawn back to his report.  
  
Mal grimaced in disgust before heading for the door, wishing he could tell Choi just where he could shove this little escapade. Activating the door to leave he was brought up short by Choi's parting words.  
  
"Be lucky, Sergeant Reynolds."   
  
Mal paused, considering a reply. He knew the commander was trying to provoke him, but he wasn't about to give the smug bastard the satisfaction of a comeback.   
  
Some of them Alliance boys could never let go of the war, Mal mused as he was led back through the base, and deep inside of himself, he knew he couldn't either. He knew he'd always be fighting an uphill battle against everything they represented: the squashing of a man's soul.  
  
*Be lucky.*  
  
The words drifted around his skull as he took the purse of money from Choi's subordinate; as he drove the mule back through the over crowded streets to the ship and handed over enough money for Kaylee and Wash to buy new fuel cells; while he instructed Zoe and Jayne to check their ammo stocks and list what might be needed for an assault on a possibly inhabited Fed moon. Over and over those two words roiled in his brain like a fever.  
  
*You depend on luck; you end up on the drift--no fuel, no prospects. Beggin' for Alliance make-work, and towed out to the scrap belt. That ain't us. Not ever.*  
  
He'd said those words once, meant them too, and now look where they were, where he'd taken them.  
  
Job or no, this was not his best day ever.  
  
/\~/\   
  
Commander Choi and his aide, a young male lieutenant named Nichols, stood at a communications console, their limited monitors tracking known vessels entering and leaving the planet's atmosphere.   
  
The communications room was unusually quiet. Normally operating with a staff of five, the nerve centre of the base--as with all recent Federal duties--was now functioning on little more than a skeleton crew.  
  
Morale among the planet's company had faltered with the assumed loss on the Morfan moon, but Choi had done his best to rally his troops with the assurance that more men and supplies would arrive any day, now that they knew at least one Alliance cruiser was on its way to them.  
  
"Commander," Nichols asked curiously. "Do you really think it's wise to let Serenity's crew leave without some sort of escort?"  
  
"Lieutenant, you know my mind on this," Choi said stubbornly. "I'm not wasting another man on this mission, especially if...." Choi let the unfinished sentence hang in the air.  
  
"Sir, do you really think--"  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
Nichols considered his commander's statement. "If that's the case sir, why didn't you ask Drooda? Her men certainly have the firepower."   
  
Choi shook his head dismissively at the comment, but after a moment Nichols went on more carefully. "She wouldn't be a great loss to us, sir."  
  
"That *zhu bian xiang* can't be trusted, and if what little intelligence that comes our way is any indication, she's probably been responsible for most of the raids in this sector. We hand her this job, we'd be the laughing stock of every Alliance base from here to the Central planets.  
  
"I'm after proof, Lieutenant," Choi continued. "Reynolds was a browncoat, but I've read his service record and his known activities since the war. He'll do the job, or die trying," he said with grudging respect. "If we can make the brass sit up and take notice of what we're up against, once and for all, there's no question we'll see more resources and a much higher Alliance presence in this part of space. But I must have the proof!"  
  
"Commander, the Serenity isn't a gun ship. If they run into trouble, what chance would they have?"  
  
Taking the question into consideration Choi shrugged. "They'll be an unfortunate consequence. Whatever happens to them, we'll still have a cruiser here in a few days. One way or another," he surmised, "we're going to get our proof; Reavers exist."  
  
/\~/\  
  
"They're expecting us to bring back survivors?" Simon asked, following Mal and Zoe down from the bridge to the dining area.   
  
"That ain't likely to happen," Zoe murmured, passing Simon to pour herself a cup of a coffee in the adjoining kitchen. Shepherd Book was already there, preparing food.  
  
Jayne, seated at the dining table, was cleaning a selection of guns and knives that were spread out over nearly half of it. Kaylee and Inara, seated on a couch, were playing a game; River, sitting happily next to them was drawing. Simon moved to sit with them.  
  
"They had over forty men on that moon and not a word back in over ten days. I think it's fair to say you won't be treating too many injured, Doc," Mal said, helping himself to a bowl of rice that was already sitting on the counter. Finding himself a pair of chopsticks he started to eat. "If anything," he said around a mouthful, "it's the Shepherd who'll be doing all the hard work."  
  
"If it's my task to put those souls to rest, I will," Book concurred from the kitchen.  
  
Mal took his bowl and sat with Jayne at the table. "Inara," he called. "I don't know how you're fixed for the next week, but I want you to take your shuttle and stay here until we get back. There's no need for you to be involved in this."  
  
Looking up from her game, Inara answered sweetly. "That's chivalrous of you, Mal, but I do still have some business to conduct here."  
  
"Just as well," Mal said. "It's too bad we can't pack Simon and River off with you when you go. Don't worry," he said quickly, seeing Simon's annoyed expression. "You two will have to stay put. Inara, we leave first thing tomorrow morning, so I hope that's not too early for you to be getting gone," he taunted.  
  
"As I recall, you're the one with the morning problem, Mal."  
  
Inara's quip had Kaylee giggling out loud and Zoe almost spitting out her coffee.  
  
Jayne looked around at the laughing ladies and then back to Mal. "Huh, I don't get it," he said gruffly.  
  
At that moment Wash came bounding in from the bridge. "Don't get what?" he asked joining Zoe in the kitchen when she raised a mug in his direction.  
  
"Nothing," Mal responded uncomfortably.  
  
Jayne turned back to Mal and jabbing his knife at him asked, "So, we go in, look around and get out?"   
  
"Most like," he answered, digging into his chow again.  
  
"Doesn't that seem a little too simple, Captain?" Book asked.  
  
"The job ain't without risk. It's possible we could run into the folks that done this."   
  
Book came over to the table and placed a salad of greens down in the centre. "If all we're expected to do is look around, surely they could have waited a few extra days and done it themselves," he said.  
  
Simon leaned forward on the couch. "Shepherd, what are you implying?"  
  
"Nothing, son," Book turned to answer. "Just wondering if the captain knows something he'd rather not share in our company is all," he said, looking back at Mal.  
  
Pushing his bowl away Mal sat back in his chair, folded his arms and stretched out his legs. "You got a question, preacher, ask it."  
  
"I'm just curious to know why the Alliance are hiring us to do this, and yet not one single marshal is coming with us."  
  
"Preacher's got a point there, Mal," said Jayne. "The bastards would only get in our way, but you got to admit, this ain't the way they'd normally play it."  
  
"It's my experience that when the Alliance sends a crew out cold, they either expect them not to come back, or their setting a trap of some sorts," Book went on.  
  
Wash leaned over the counter, mug in hand. "What sort of a monastery were you in again? Because you have all sorts of knowledge on the wildest things, and they all seem to involve... dead people."   
  
Simon got up to pace. "You think this is some sort of trap?"   
  
Inara had stopped playing with Kaylee to listen. "I don't think so, Simon," she said confidently. "Commander Choi's outfit has been severely depleted. It's simply a question of low man power."  
  
Book looked dubiously to Mal.  
  
"Oh, I know," Jayne said, shaking his knife. "They figure Drooda's gang is knocking off their goods see, and they want us to take her out, right?"  
  
"That is a possibility. Captain?" Book queried.  
  
"I already said there might be some gun play," Mal answered irritably. "Look, we do this thing, we get a nice pay-day, we get gone. All there is too it."  
  
Book seemed unmoved by the captain's statement. "So you figure Drooda's men wiped out over forty armed Federal Marshals?"   
  
"They could have, her boys had some nice looking weapons," Jayne said, rubbing his hand along the barrel of a pistol.  
  
"Holy shit! No!"   
  
Wash's startled outburst caught everyone's attention. He was standing with Zoe behind the kitchen counter; she had her head down, turned away from them.  
  
"*Shen me shi bu duima?*" Kaylee asked, rising out of her seat.  
  
Wash moved closer to Zoe and gently rubbed her back. Whispering softly so that only she would hear, he said, "Baby, *duibuqi*."   
  
Zoe put her coffee mug down and turned an apologetic gaze towards her captain. "You think Reavers attacked that moon, don't you, sir?"  
  
The room exploded into a clamour of disbelief at Zoe's suggestion.  
  
Jayne immediately reached for Vera, his favourite high-powered rifle, brandishing it as if they were facing an imminent attack. "Reavers! *Shenme á tamadema?* You think Reavers hit that moon?"  
  
Inara was on her feet. "Mal, oh my God!"  
  
Simon looked to River. "If they're still out there, we'll be...."  
  
"There ain't no proof it's Reavers did this," Mal spat out over the uproar. "Zoe's just being her usual upbeat self about a possible situation."  
  
"If they're attacking the Alliance now, they're even crazier than we thought--if that's possible," Wash snorted.  
  
"I ain't going. Not if it's the gorram Reavers."  
  
"Jayne, you want to get paid? Want to see your cut from this job?" Mal demanded gruffly.  
  
"Sure, Mal, but Reavers--"  
  
"Then shut up! Do your job. Or get off my boat. Now!"   
  
Mal's challenge silenced the entire room with its stinging ferocity. "Anyone else?" he barked, his eyes wild and roving over his stunned crew.   
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
Restless nights were nothing new to the crew of Serenity, and like many others they dealt with them as best they could.  
  
Shepherd Book turned to the Bible for words of strength and comfort, and not just for himself; he was already prepared to accept his fate, should the Lord call him home, or to that other place.   
  
Instead he shared the words of solace he found in the scriptures with Kaylee and Jayne.   
  
Jayne, Book pondered, such a brute of a man on the surface, and yet here he was all pious and serious; head bent and hands pressed together as he fervently repeated The Lord's Prayer and psalm twenty-three on the floor of his room, like a little boy at Sunday school.  
  
How much like frightened children they all were, Book thought. Facing the unknown with no clear indication of what might happen or where they'd end up.  
  
For a long time the Shepherd had wondered if the Lord had a place for guns, and for men with the knowledge of them. Finding a place among them, when all he'd sought was a little peace, must have been part of the Lord's plan, part of the trust and faith that God had in him. He hoped so.  
  
Praying aloud he called on that faith to continue to guide them all, through whatever challenges lay before them.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Simon sat with River as she slept. He'd given his sister her final medication for the day, wondering bleakly if he'd get the chance to administer many more.  
  
The progress he was making in understanding exactly what the Alliance had done to her was small, but every day brought its own gift, and Simon was eternally grateful for those moments of lucidity; moments when he fully recognised his beloved sister.  
  
It couldn't end just yet, his quest for her full recovery or for the knowledge of why those sick bastards had cut into a little girl's brain. He'd sacrificed too much, come too far. He would not allow the possibility of pirates or savages living on the edge of space to come between his family and the answers he sought.  
  
And if that meant picking up a loaded gun again, so be it.  
  
/\~/\  
  
In the flickering candlelight of their cabin, Zoe, breathless and replete, settled her naked and slick body down upon Wash's. She kissed his flush, heaving chest and wound her arms around her mate's neck.   
  
Wash lay beneath his wife, practically spread eagle, one hand buried in the thick dark curls of Zoe's hair as she curled and hummed against him.  
  
Zoe had ridden him into oblivion and he was just now making his way back from the dead.   
  
Their mutual physical need for each other this night wasn't based on the tension of the last few days, or the uncertainty of what lay ahead; it was simply how they were. How they loved.  
  
Zoe's soldiering had taught her to abandon the promises of tomorrow and to live in the now. Wash's natural optimism and curiosity gave him a unique outlook on life that appealed to her.   
  
It didn't matter to them that they didn't always seem to mesh on the surface, Zoe appearing dour, tough and silent, while Wash was outgoing, garrulous and witty. Yet it was these qualities that attracted the other, each unabashedly titillated and delighted by the virtues that others presumed would keep them apart.  
  
"Zo," Wash croaked, lungs still heaving. "Promise me we'll get some time alone after this job. Head to Boros maybe, do a little sight seeing, eat real food, swim in the lakes. Or we can just haul up in a room and do this again," he suggested. "Or we can do it again now, once I get my breath back."  
  
Brushing a thigh up against his spent erection she slurred huskily, "Boros and now sounds good. I'll ask the captain when this is all over."  
  
"Is Mal sanctioning our love-making now?" he couldn't resist.  
  
Zoe chuckled beside him. "You know my meaning, husband."  
  
"Well, I certainly wouldn't be asking him at the moment, not with him in such a killing mood."  
  
"It's hard for him, Wash," Zoe said defensively. "The decisions he has to make ain't easy."   
  
"I know that, but does he have to take everything so personally?"  
  
Zoe moved restlessly beside her husband, turning over and away from him. "It's his way, baby, that's how he is."  
  
Wash shook his head and turned towards his wife's back. Curling an arm over her waist he pulled her closer to him and tucked his head against her neck and shoulder. Fighting his growing fatigue he planted a kiss to the top of Zoe's spine.   
  
"Yeah, I guess," he murmured against her warm skin. "Hey," he said suddenly, raising his head to look over Zoe's shoulder. "I thought you were going to seduce me again?"  
  
"Now?" she yawned.  
  
"A pilot needs lots of sex, I told you this, remember?" Wash grumbled.  
  
"Mmm-huh." Snuggling deeper in her pillow and pulling Wash's arm up her body to her breasts she said drowsily, "There, knock yourself out."  
  
/\~/\  
  
Sitting alone in the dark, with only the lights of Serenity's helm console and Talos' night sky for company, Mal tensed when he heard soft footsteps behind him.  
  
"I couldn't sleep, I hope you don't mind."   
  
Sighing inwardly Mal swivelled around to face Inara. She stood uneasily by the bulkhead, her expression hidden in the half-light of the darkened cockpit. Her appearance at such a late hour surprised Mal, but he didn't reject her offer of company and motioned her in.  
  
She slid into the co-pilot's chair, taking several moments to gaze up into the sky. "It's so beautiful isn't it?" she said after a while.  
  
"Yeah," Mal replied wistfully, following her gaze.   
  
They shared another long silence before Inara turned to him and blurted, "Don't take any unnecessary risks out there, Mal."   
  
Turning to face her he gave the companion a sad smile. "You got us the job, Inara."  
  
"I know," she said guiltily, "but I never thought it would turn out like this."  
  
"Like what?" he probed gently, his earlier anger gone, if not his haunted appearance.  
  
"You, you're... so tense," she offered haltingly. "I've never seen you so angry as you were tonight."   
  
"Well, I'm likely to get all crotchety when the Alliance are involved," he joked weakly.  
  
"So I've noticed," she smiled.  
  
Mal couldn't take his eyes off that smile; Inara's whole face had relaxed with it. He continued to stare at her until she turned away to look at the stars again. "How come you can't sleep?" he asked softly, disturbed by how much she affected him with only her presence, her delicate smile.  
  
"Worried, I suppose." Her voice was as equally quiet, though she didn't look at him when she answered.  
  
"We're a good crew, we'll be all right," he said, trying to reassure her.   
  
"Of course," Inara responded, turning just then to smile gently at him, this one more cautious than the last, dark hair falling slightly over her face.  
  
He really did want to understand her, this graceful woman who carried herself with a regal air, but who chose to spread to her legs for strangers and call it business.   
  
"You'll be okay while we're gone?" he asked more firmly, attempting to bury his thoughts. He didn't have the right to judge her, though he often did with his hurtful tongue--just as she'd often called his own way of life into question.  
  
"Yes, I've... I have business," she said carefully before standing. "I... I guess I just wanted to say be careful--all of you."  
  
He wanted to know what would she'd be like, stripped of all her Academy artifice, training and trappings. "We will."   
  
Moving towards Mal so that they were almost within touching distance, Inara hesitated. As she swayed Mal couldn't help but lean forward slightly in his chair, catching the scent of the delicate fragrance she wore in his nostrils. He couldn't quell the irrational hope that she'd move closer to him and say something, reach out to him somehow--  
  
"Good night, Mal," she said, backing away from him.  
  
Consciously realising his desires Mal sat back stiffly, unable to reply.   
  
He wanted to touch her and taste her, everywhere.  
  
Swinging himself away from her abruptly, Mal sat dumbstruck, barely hearing Inara's retreating footfalls.   
  
Alone in the silence and the semi dark, Mal closed his eyes and willed his frantically beating heart back down to its normal rate, confused as to why he'd been hit so hard when he knew his attraction to Inara had been there all along.   
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
"We'll see you in a week or so," Wash called over the comm as Serenity broke orbit at first light the following morning. "And don't worry so much. Anything that hit that moon is probably long gone by now," he said confidently.  
  
"You're probably right, but watch yourselves anyway, okay?"  
  
"Sure thing, 'Nara. See you soon."  
  
Wash cut the link and concentrated on flying the ship, feeling Serenity responding to him as he guided the controls. "Here we go, boys," he whooped to his herd of plastic dinosaurs adorning the flight console.   
  
Flicking the internal comm button, he called down to the engine room. "Kaylee, we good to go?"  
  
"Everything's shiny, Wash," she replied. "Go for full burn whenever you're ready."  
  
Turning his attention back to the ship, Wash purred at Serenity. "Come on, baby, show poppa how much you've missed him."   
  
Finally clearing the atmosphere of Talos, Serenity's rear end lit up and the ship streaked away from the planet into the welcoming black.  
  
"God, it's good to be flying again," Wash beamed.  
  
/\~/\  
  
As soon as Morfan had come into sensor range, four days after leaving Talos, Wash had called the captain to the bridge. Mal had arrived quickly, Zoe following close behind, and all three watched as the small grey-brown moon drew closer.  
  
"Keep your distance, Wash, circle around," Mal instructed as he stood next to the pilot.  
  
Zoe, needing no instruction, worked behind her husband monitoring the rear vid.  
  
Wash set a course, checking the helm as he steered. The space around the moon seemed calm enough, no ships in range and no debris in the outer atmosphere.  
  
"Take us in," Mal ordered quietly, eyes still glued to view outside their windows.   
  
Serenity rumbled and shook as she dove down into the moon's atmosphere, levelling out and returning to a smooth glide once Wash had eased her through the turbulence.  
  
Checking his scans of the surface Wash looked up. "It looks pretty dead down there, Mal. I'm not picking anything up, a few intermittent power spikes from all over, but that's all."  
  
"Power spikes?" Mal asked  
  
"Their generators maybe?" Zoe speculated.  
  
"Hard to tell," Wash answered. "I'm guessing most Fed bases have some sort of shield grid in place, so people like us are less likely to know what they're up to. You guys would know better than I would."  
  
"Could be shielding," Mal conceded. "Can you spot any ships down there?"  
  
Punching up several buttons Wash studied his readouts before pointing to one of the screens. "There," he said, "that's got to be an Alliance shuttle. I can bring us in closer for a look."  
  
"Do it, but do it slow. I ain't in the mood for no surprises."  
  
Flying cautiously Wash moved in on the coordinates, the dry and barren surface of Morfan kicking up dust as he brought Serenity in lower.  
  
In the distance they could see three single-story buildings lying small distances apart, the largest one standing between the smaller two. The shuttle Wash had spotted was on the ground in front of the largest complex, and bringing Serenity in slowly, he let the ship hover over the structures.  
  
On the ground there were no signs of movement, or any hint of conflict.  
  
"Zoe?"   
  
Checking her monitor, Zoe answered, "Nothing on rear vid, sir. We going in?"  
  
"Looks like. Wash, set us down, close to the main compound." Flicking a control above his head, Mal activated the comm. "Jayne, saddle up the mule, Zoe and me are on our way down," he instructed.  
  
"Mule's ready, Cap," Jayne came back. "Them boys dead or what then, huh?"   
  
"Not rightly sure. Figure we'll find out soon enough though," he said cutting the link. Turning to Wash Mal instructed, "Watch our backs. I figure the preacher can keep a pretty good watch on the rest of the ship."  
  
"Sure, Mal."  
  
Signalling for Zoe to follow him Mal left the bridge.   
  
Zoe lingered for a few moments, caressing Wash's neck and shoulders in a parting gesture. Wash turned to his wife, and controlling Serenity's landing with one hand while he stroked her hip with the other he whispered, "*Xiaoxin, bao bei.*"  
  
Bending to kiss him briefly on the lips, Zoe replied, "*Ni ye, zhangfu*."   
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
The Alliance cruiser Hessen reached Talos three days after Serenity's departure. On arrival Commander Choi was immediately summoned to give the Hessen's captain a briefing. Wasting no time, Choi explained in detail the activities of raiders in the system and the more pressing concern of his lost men on the Morfan moon.   
  
"Let me see if I understand you correctly," the Hessen's captain, Joseph Santos, said, his tall frame pacing back and forth across his office. "You sent out a transport vessel, captained by a former Independent officer, to investigate your theories on behalf of the Alliance?"  
  
"Captain, as I explained, our man power on Talos has been severely depleted. We were barely able to muster enough men for the assignment on Morfan. Sending another platoon out into the unknown would have been reckless."  
  
"Commander, the Serenity's crew are known thieves! And you sent them on their way without any sort of military presence whatsoever; what were you thinking?"  
  
"I admit it's a calculated risk."  
  
"Calculated risk," Santos mimicked wickedly turning to stare at Choi. "And all because of you think there's a pack of flesh eating savages wreaking havoc in your territory?" The Hessen's captain shook his head and sighed. "Commander Choi, no offence, but even my eleven year old daughter wouldn't bat an eye at such a ludicrous suggestion; the stories about such people are just campfire tales."  
  
"I believe that they're very real."  
  
"Hmm," Santos remarked pacing again. "I'll send a wave to Central Command; get their opinion. We leave orbit in a few hours, that should be enough time to complete the transfer of temporary replacements to your base here, shouldn't it?" Santos queried.  
  
"Yes."   
  
"Good. Can I also assume that you'll be wanting to accompanying us on the journey?"   
  
"Of course," Choi replied enthusiastically.   
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
Serenity's ramp opened up and Mal, with Zoe and Jayne balanced behind him, made the short trip on the mule towards the main compound. The ten-foot high steel gates surrounding the building were open and Mal stopped the vehicle just inside. All three got off, and after checking their audio links with Wash, made their way forward cautiously.   
  
The entire area thrummed with sound, a bass rumbling that went on unabated at their approach.  
  
"I guess those power spikes must be their generators," Zoe commented. "Never known any Fed base have more 'an one though."  
  
"It is a curiosity," Mal agreed. "We'll check it after; let's do the thing first."  
  
Mal took point, Zoe and Jayne at his rear, their weapons raised. Mal had a pistol out and ready, two more strapped to his thigh and another tucked into the waistband of his pants. Around his waist he carried glow sticks, a precaution in case there was no artificial light. Zoe's shotgun was cocked and she had pistols strapped under each armpit, grenades around her waist and her vest armour on. Jayne wore a bandoleer across his chest. An assortment of knives and guns were strapped to his thighs and waist. Vera was held protectively in his arms.  
  
They checked the shuttle first. The interior had been stripped of its parts, gaping holes and wires hung loosely from exposed conduits where equipment must have once been housed; there were no signs of gunplay or crew.   
  
Leaving the shuttle they moved on, and when they reached the main door of the largest building Mal signalled for Zoe and Jayne to drop back and away.   
  
Heaving the large steel handles towards him, Mal pulled at the entrance door, stepping aside quickly as the door swung back. He waited for several cautious seconds before sneaking a look around the open door. The complex's fluorescent lights were on, but the passage leading in appeared deserted.  
  
Before going any further Mal activated his comm unit and checked in with Serenity. "Wash, how we doing?"   
  
/\~/\  
  
Kaylee had joined Wash on the bridge and they busied themselves with keeping a close eye on the various monitors.   
  
"Everything's clear here, Cap'n. It sure is quiet, huh," Kaylee answered.  
  
"I know it, but you two keep sharp, dong ma?" Mal cautioned.  
  
"Yes, Cap'n."  
  
/\~/\  
  
Entering the compound they found no signs of a struggle. The base was typical Alliance; clean and grey. Its living quarters, mess hall, infirmary, control rooms, with the exception of the equipment and materials, all seemed in place and untouched, the constant rumble of the generators in the background the only indication of activity.   
  
It was as if the building had simply been abandoned.  
  
"Can't be Reavers, Cap, they'd have made more of a mess for damn sure," Jayne said, using the nose of his rifle to push open a door and peer inside.  
  
"We got two more buildings to check, Jayne," Mal warned.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Shepherd Book kept watch from Serenity's ramp, shotgun cocked and ready. His gaze moved around from the empty horizon on his left to the three buildings dotted in close succession in front of him and to his right.  
  
Working on instinct Book wheeled around and took aim.  
  
"Don't shoot!" Simon pleaded, hands raised in the air, the gun he was holding shaking in his grip. "It's just me, Shepherd."  
  
"Sorry, son," Book apologised, lowering his weapon. "I wasn't expecting to see you out here, thought you'd want to keep an eye on your sister."  
  
"I had to sedate her," Simon explained, his hands still shaking as he approached. "She wouldn't stop repeating herself, and it's the same thing again and again."   
  
"'They're afraid; they think they're protecting us, but they can't face the truth,'" Book intoned gravely.  
  
Startled, Simon took a step back.  
  
"It was difficult *not* to hear her, son," Book reasoned. "When I woke up this morning, that's all I could hear. At first I thought she was chatting with you or Kaylee," he shook his head sadly. "Do you have any idea what she meant?"  
  
Simon inhaled slowly. "No, I don't. River's been so agitated recently that it could mean anything."  
  
"But she has the sight," Book stated with conviction. "She is a reader."  
  
"I don't know, Shepherd. They did something to her, altered her perceptions, yes; but the rest, right now I have no way of knowing."  
  
Book placed an arm around Simon's shoulder and led him to the top of the ramp. "Well, we can't worry about that now, son, but I do appreciate another set of eyes out here with me," he said. "But you might think about taking the safety off that pistol you're holding. They tend to work better that way, if there's trouble."   
  
/\~/\  
  
In the same guarded fashion as before Mal pulled the doors of the second block back carefully and entered the building. The lights in this compound flickered at less than half strength but the interior was visible enough to see into.  
  
Taking a few steps inside Mal stopped abruptly, looking to his left then right. Zoe came up on his shoulder and peered over.  
  
The main passage walls and floor were smeared and stained with some kind of substance.  
  
Mal touched a hand to the wall at his right, bringing it up to his nose to sniff and examine. Turning to Zoe they shared a brief and silent communication. Raising their weapons as one they moved further inside, Jayne following silently behind.  
  
The further they moved inside the second complex the darker it got. Zoe pulled two glow sticks from Mal's belt, activating and handing one to him she raised the other aloft to light their way.  
  
"You smell that?" Jayne coughed.  
  
The unmistakable smell of rotting flesh was assaulting their nostrils. They'd reached a cross section of the interior that lead in two different directions, the walls were covered with blood, and on the floor lay the remnants of torn uniforms, discharged weapons, body parts and entrails.   
  
"Gorram it!" Jayne spat, slipping in the gore at his feet. Recovering his balance he didn't dare meet the eyes of his two companions, instead he hefted Vera tighter against his chest. "I don't like this one damn bit," he complained.  
  
"Let's just keep moving," Mal said quietly.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Wash and Kaylee sat in silence, their eyes moving between the ship's monitors and their view of the compounds through the bridge's windows. Wash bit his lip nervously and balled and un-balled his fists as he fought, what was for him, the always intolerable waiting.  
  
Kaylee was always good company but even she was growing restless at his side as they continued their routine of scanning and watching.  
  
Unable to tolerate the silence any longer Wash reached for his comm unit. "Are you guys okay?" he demanded through the link. Scarcely waiting for a response he called again. "Zoe?"  
  
After a few seconds, Zoe's voice came through to the bridge. "Things are looking a mite uglier down here," she responded in her usual calm tone. "But we're good. Sit tight, sweetie," she advised, cutting the link at her end before Wash could question her further.  
  
In annoyance Wash tossed the comm unit across the console. "What the hell does 'uglier' mean?" he complained, turning to Kaylee.  
  
"They'll be fine. The cap'n and Jayne are with Zoe, Wash. Cap'n wouldn't let anything happen to her," she reasoned, giving his arm a squeeze.  
  
Wash sat back rubbing his temples in frustration. "It's my job to worry, I'm the husband," he said tiredly.  
  
Kaylee smiled. "They'll be back before you know it, with stories an' all--" the proximity alert going off and the helm consol lighting up interrupted her.   
  
Wash jumped up in his chair. "*Wei tamade gan!*" he whispered tightly, his fingers flying over the console.  
  
Kaylee, reading the information being transmitted, turned to stare mutely at him.  
  
"No rutting way they could be that close without us picking them up," Wash swore, his eyes glued to the controls.  
  
"It ain't Alliance," Kaylee said fearfully.  
  
"No, but it's bigger than Serenity."   
  
Looking out at the view from the cockpit all they could see was the barren landscape ahead, peaked with the three stone Federal buildings.  
  
Galvanised into action Wash turned to Kaylee. "Get down to the engine room!" he ordered. Picking up the discarded comm Wash had a channel open before the young engineer had a chance to run from the bridge.  
  
"We've got an incoming ship, repeat, incoming. It's not Alliance. You need to get back here--now!" he yelled into the unit. Flicking a switch Wash opened up a broadcast to the rest of the ship. "Preacher, we've got incoming, a ship coming up fast from the south east."  
  
Cutting the link as soon as he'd broadcast, Wash moved with a preternatural calm and grace, leaving his chair to move around and open up one of the lockers behind it. He reached in and grabbed a shotgun, checked the barrel for ammunition then cocked it. Placing the weapon down by his feet, he took his seat and started prepping Serenity for take off.  
  
The ship rocked abruptly and Wash had to hold on to the nav board to keep his balance.   
  
They'd been fired on.  
  
"Wash, is it Reavers?" Mal came through over the comm, it sounded like he was running.  
  
"I can't tell," Wash answered, pitching in his seat when another volley hit the ship. "They're masking their signature somehow, and we're being hit with some sort of concussion charges. They're closing in fast. I can be in the air in one minute, but you guys need to move. If they keep firing on the ship, I won't be able to get us back up."  
  
"Get off the ground--now! You'll be harder to hit if you're moving," Mal responded.  
  
"Mal--no!"  
  
Zoe cut in on the link. "Wash, do it! Get up and keep flying."  
  
"Zoe, I'm not leaving you down there!" Wash shouted, fighting to stay in his seat as yet another charge hit the ship.  
  
"Baby, there's no time. Do it!" she ordered.  
  
Several more charges hit the ship in quick succession, shaking Serenity violently.   
  
"Oh God, oh God," Wash hissed desperately. "Tamade!" Hitting the ship's comm he yelled out, "Everyone hang on to something. We're in the air--now!"  
  
Working the controls furiously Wash activated the ramp and pulled Serenity up off the ground, her thrusters kicking up tons of dirt as they fired the ship away from the surface.  
  
"I'm coming back," he swore viciously into the comm before focusing all of his attention on flying Serenity out of orbit.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Zoe, Mal and Jayne raced out of the small compound in time to see Serenity lifting off and banking hard to her left as she picked up speed and raced away into the sky.  
  
Over the thunderous roar of the engines Zoe barely heard her husband's agonised promise. Watching Serenity climb higher and higher Zoe whispered meaningfully into her hand held comm. "I know it."  
  
~~/\~/\~~   
  
Serenity wasn't being pursued. The three of them watched silently as the unidentified ship barrelled towards their position. As it came closer they could see that it was definitely a gun-ship, its port, stern and starboard sides outfitted with heavy duty cannons.   
  
The ship slowed as it came in, landing in practically the same spot Serenity had recently vacated.  
  
Mal and Zoe shared puzzled expressions as they watched the ship's landing struts hit the dirt.  
  
"They ain't taking *me* alive," Jayne whispered tightly, taking aim.  
  
"Take cover," Mal commanded, turning back to point in between the larger compound and its smaller twin. Running as fast as they could, the three settled themselves at the corners of the two blocks, Jayne at the out edge of the smallest one, Mal and Zoe at the corner of the largest stone fronted complex, a few feet away from Jayne's position.  
  
The unknown ship's engines powered down and moments later two side ramps began to lower from either side of the vessel. An armour-plated jeep exited one ramp while six armed men rushed down from the other side, moving swiftly to take cover behind the moving vehicle.  
  
Zeroing in on their prey's position, the men behind the slow moving jeep opened fire.   
  
Firing back in return Mal, Zoe and Jayne exchanged round for round, filling the air with the sound and smell of spent shells and gun smoke.  
  
Zoe tossed off two grenades in the direction of the jeep, both detonating just shy of their target. Jayne picked off two men who had veered out from the cover the vehicle; one went down in a heap, clutching his neck, the other his chest.  
  
Bullets zipped off the ground and blew chunks out of the masonry around them, a ricochet grazing Mal's cheek. Zoe threw another grenade and it exploded under the front of the jeep, momentarily scattering the men behind it. The jeep shuddered with the impact, but kept coming, its speed slowing to crawl.   
  
The assault continued with no clear ground being gained by either side.  
  
"Hold your fire," Mal ordered Zoe and Jayne, knowing that their ammunition wouldn't last indefinitely.   
  
Soon the firing on both sides died down and Mal, from the shelter of the compound, called out to the intruders over the continuing hubbub of the generators. "I don't know about y'all over there, but I can think of better things to do than swap bullets all day long. Why don't we talk a spell, see if we can't maybe come to an understanding."   
  
A gruff voice replied to his offer. "Ain't got no need for talk. We got enough ammo here to bury you all back there, take what we want and run after your little ship too. Now how'd that be?"  
  
"Well, I figure you could, " Mal responded, "But see, when you're done with us all you're gonna find on this here moon is a bunch of dead Alliance boys."  
  
"The hell you say!" their leader shot back dismissively.  
  
"I can see you're obviously men of trade," Mal yelled back. "But whatever was here, you missed the best of it. This place has been picked clean; armoury, technical what-knots, ain't nothing left."  
  
"We didn't come all the way out here for no gorram funeral!"  
  
"Don't have to take my word for it, check for yourselves; start with that compound over there in back, we'll wait," Mal reasoned casually.  
  
The raiders huddled around the jeep to converse, every now and then looking up to check on the position of Mal and his band.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Mal, Zoe and Jayne watched the group in the distance; it was impossible to hear the raiders' whispered discussion over the whining and rumbling generators.  
  
"Pirates?" Zoe asked, using the moment to un-holster a pistol from under her arm as she looked out from behind the stone wall.  
  
"One of them boys I hit looked like he was one of Drooda's men maybe, "Jayne ventured, loading more ammo.  
  
"Yeah," Mal agreed, checking his own weapon. "They must have gotten wind about this moon, come out here looking to add to their stock. No wonder that woman's got her fingers all over this quadrant."  
  
"How do you want to play this, sir?"  
  
"Careful," Mal replied, "real careful. They still got a ship out there. No telling how many they still got on board."  
  
"They're moving," Jayne warned.  
  
Two men split from the cover of the jeep and raced into the small structure where Serenity's crew had made their own grisly discovery, returning after several tense minutes.  
  
One of the men was shouting breathlessly as he rejoined his group. "It's true! Them boys weren't just hit with bullets; some of them been chopped up, others gutted and hung up to dry like hogs at a town festival. By the looks and smell of 'em, they've been hanging for a couple of days too."  
  
"No way these guys could've put 'em all in the dirt," declared the other.  
  
"Gorram Reavers!" Drooda's deputy hollered to his gathered men. "Now they're hitting Feds?" he raved. "God damn!"  
  
"Ain't no job worth crossing their path for," a shorter man at his side said.  
  
"You're god damn right," the leader agreed. "They're likely to come on back anytime. We're falling back, everyone back to the ship!" he ordered.  
  
The men took off, leaving their fallen comrades in the dirt, their jeep making a wide circle as it struggled to gain impetus.  
  
Mal, Zoe and Jayne moved slowly out from the cover of the complex, watching with amusement as the pirates sprinted away.  
  
"Well now, ain't that a picture," Jayne laughed.  
  
Something caught Mal's attention and he spun around, looking hard into the distant horizon. "Listen," he said.  
  
Jayne cocked his head. "Generators?" he questioned. The deep thrumming, rumbling sound was getting louder and closer.  
  
"We never did find the power housing, sir," Zoe murmured, glancing skywards.  
  
"Maybe not, but that don't sound like no gorram generator--get down!" Mal yelled, launching himself at Zoe. The force of his momentum smashed Zoe into Jayne's mid-riff and all three hit the dirt in a pile of twisted arms and legs.  
  
Two small vessels, front guns blazing, flew over their sprawled bodies, firing rapidly at the slow moving jeep, Drooda's fleeing men and at the raiders' stationary ship.   
  
The jeep careened wildly under the onslaught, crashing into one of the ramps of the ship, its engine ablaze.  
  
The grounded ship's engines began to power up, its own guns rotating and firing desperately at the fast moving and agile ships.   
  
Untangling herself from her two companions, Zoe rolled over and turned to her captain. "They're short-range gun ships, sir. They had to be stationed here."  
  
"Feds? I thought all them boys was dead," argued Jayne, reaching into the dirt to retrieve Vera.  
  
"They are," Mal replied, his chin inches from the ground. "There ain't no Feds on those boats."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Come on."  
  
They scrambled back to the limited cover of the compound as another ship streaked overhead. Remaining low and talking in ragged breaths Mal continued. "Not generators; ships, and God knows what else."   
  
"Huh?"  
  
Zoe nodded in understanding. "All those power spikes."  
  
"What?"  
  
"They've been here all along."  
  
"Who?"   
  
"The gorram Reavers!"  
  
/\~/\   
  
Wash checked his sensors, Book and Simon at either shoulder as Serenity streaked away at full power from Morfan.   
  
"They're not following," Book observed.  
  
"Turn back," Simon urged. "We can't leave the captain and Zoe down there."  
  
"We're not a gun ship, son," Book admonished. "We wouldn't stand a chance down there."  
  
"What can we do? We can't just wait for the Alliance to show up."   
  
"Wash sent an emergency hail as soon as we left orbit--"  
  
"But it's days to the Talos system, if we can't go back what are we supposed to do?" Simon argued.  
  
"Would you two shut up, please? You're not helping," Wash yelled angrily, trying to concentrate on his readings.   
  
Serenity's short-range sensors were picking up faint power spikes on Morfan. They were similar to their initial readings, but no longer irregular. Wash tried to adjust his controls for accuracy before they were out of range, and as he did so another vessel appeared on his screen, hurtling rapidly towards them.  
  
"What the hell--?" he said in confusion.  
  
A huge cruiser with Alliance markings came into view and all three stared at it in mute surprise.  
  
"Firefly transport, Serenity, this is the Alliance cruiser, Hessen. We received your distress signal on route to Morfan. Release control of your helm and we'll pull you in."  
  
Wash let out a sigh of relief. "Never let it be said that the Alliance don't know how to crash a party," he said, flicking switches across his board.   
  
Simon grabbed Wash's shoulder and hauled him back into his seat. "Wait!" he begged.   
  
Wash spun around to face the young doctor, silencing him quickly with a raised finger to his lips.  
  
"Say again, Serenity?"   
  
The audio comm channel was still open.  
  
"What? Oh, we're good; helm's all yours. And could we hurry please, my wife's down on that moon, and I'd really like to see her again," Wash smoothly improvised.  
  
"Copy that, Hessen out."  
  
Wash turned back to Simon and Book. "We shouldn't get boarded, but you never know with the law. Simon go get River and meet Kaylee in the cargo bay, she knows the plan."  
  
"I'm sorry," Simon stammered. "I didn't realise...."  
  
"It's been a tough day on all of us and we're not out of the woods yet, Doc. Go get your sister," Wash encouraged.  
  
Simon nodded, backing away. "Shepherd, I might need your help. River's probably still unconscious," he said.  
  
Book turned to Wash expectantly and the pilot gave him a surprised double take.   
  
Sure, Wash supposed, he was in charge, but it wasn't as if the preacher needed an order to get moving.  
  
"Go, go!" he shooed them both off the bridge in earnest. "The Feds ain't likely to want to be kept waiting once we're inside that beast," he said to their departing backs. "Kaylee," he called, picking up his comm unit, "Doc's on his way down, prep the space."  
  
"We being boarded?" Kaylee wanted to know.  
  
"I sure hope not, but they're pulling us in."  
  
"We going back for the captain and Zoe?"  
  
"We sure are."  
  
"Shiny!"  
  
/\~/\  
  
"Stay low!" Zoe heard Mal command as heavy fire rained down around them. More ships had emerged from the surrounding area, flying in crisscross patterns across the sky.  
  
"Looks like they're just trying to take out the ship, sir," she said, hunkered down by her captain's side.  
  
Drooda's ship was still managing to defend itself, but the burning jeep lying on its side and across one of its ramps was hampering the ship's escape.  
  
"Yeah," he agreed, "We're their free lunch. They take out the ship, then move in on the rest of us."  
  
"Maybe I can get to the mule," Jayne said. He started crawling forward on his stomach, but Mal grabbed his leg before he'd managed more than a few inches.  
  
"Us not moving is what's keeping us alive for now," Mal reasoned. "We try and run, they'll gun us down."  
  
"Going down fighting is sure better than waiting to be raped and eaten," Jayne spat back.  
  
Zoe had already been considering that option. "Won't come to that," she said, pulling three grenades from around her waist and offering one each to Mal and Jayne. "If the time comes," she decided emphatically, looking down at the grenade in her hand, "I'll be the one doing the ending."  
  
Mal took the grenade from Zoe's hand sighing wistfully, "Well, you were right again."   
  
"Sir?"  
  
"Doing a job for the Alliance was a bad idea."  
  
Drooda's ship took another direct hit, its port side erupting in flames and smoke.   
  
"Thanks for saying so, sir, but we didn't have much choice," Zoe tried to offer comfort over the sounds of groaning and twisting metal.   
  
"Talos was a bad idea," Mal continued.  
  
Zoe shrugged. "Never did like Talos, sir, but Serenity would never have made it to Boros." From the corner of her eye she saw Mal staring down at his own grenade.   
  
"I make Wash a widower, he's never gonna forgive me," he said, playing with the pin.  
  
Zoe had considered that probability also and turned her dust filled gaze out toward the burning ship in the distance. "Me either, sir," she said quietly.  
  
"Better get ready to pull those pins," Jayne warned. "Looks like them Reavers got reinforcements coming in from off planet," he said studying the sky.  
  
Zoe followed his gaze to see several other gun ships enter the melee from above. Instead of joining the bombardment on Drooda's ship, the vessels fanned out, launching laser fire and rockets at the Reaver vessels, flying overhead and delivering missiles that blew great craters of dirt and twisted metal up into the air.  
  
Zoe reached out and pulled Mal's grenade out of his grasp, and taking a deep breath she heaved a sigh. "All hail the great Alliance." Shaking her head she reattached the grenades to her belt.   
  
/\~/\  
  
Commander Choi watched the events on Morfan unfold from the bridge of the Hessen. The cruiser's superior tracking devices and sophisticated screens displayed the ensuing battle clearly. Older model ships--transport and fighter class--were rising from the ground in several locations.   
  
From the scans and the information being passed to the Hessen's commanders, Choi realised that the Reavers--he knew in his gut it was them--had been laying in wait, camouflaging their vessels under dun coloured shelters. The ruse was laughable, but out here on the rim even the best ships had only rudimentary equipment, so it offered invisibility to most scrutiny.  
  
Morfan had became an aerial battlefield as the Hessen sent out gun ships and ground crews to re-secure their base of operations.  
  
An ensign approached and called for his attention. "Sir, I've been authorised to give you an update," he said crisply.  
  
"What is it, Ensign?"  
  
"One of our ground crews has secured the evac of the captain of Serenity and his team."  
  
"They're alive?"  
  
"Yes, sir. Seems they took cover when the firing started. We have Captain Reynolds in interrogation room one; Captain Santos thought you might want to debrief him, he's waiting for you to join him."  
  
Choi took a breath to steady his emotions, knowing what lay ahead of him in a few short minutes. "Thank you, ensign. Where is the interrogation room?"  
  
"Follow me, sir," the ensign said helpfully, leading Choi away. "I've also been given permission to tell you that the ship under attack on the surface is registered to a... a--" The ensign paused and checked a data pad. "Magda Drooda, a so called business woman on Talos."  
  
The news brought a smile to Choi's lips. "Yes, she's a criminal I've been trying to bring to justice for some time. Her men's unauthorised presence on a Federal moon is the sort of evidence that will finally see her behind bars. Have we recovered any of her crew?"   
  
"We don't know yet, sir. Our teams are still trying to secure the area. This way," the ensign directed, gesturing Choi into a waiting elevator.  
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
Choi made the introductions.  
  
"Captain Reynolds, nice to see you're still with us," Choi said before indicating the taller man behind him. "This is Captain Santos of the Hessen; without his cruiser showing up in the nick of time I'm afraid we might have had to add you to our list of casualties," he said solicitously.   
  
Neither official offered to shake his hand and Mal sat perfectly still at the table, ignoring Choi's false sentiments.  
  
They'd been rescued by a young team of Federal marshals who had landed in a shuttle near their location on Morfan, and the three of them had been quickly ushered aboard, taking off again immediately. When they'd arrived at the Hessen and their identities had been confirmed, Mal had been led here for a "debrief", while Zoe and Jayne had been ordered to wait in a nearby room.   
  
Commander Choi sat with him at the table while Santos paced quietly behind Choi.  
  
"It seems we didn't need your services after all, Captain, but you'll be paid for your troubles, as agreed," Choi was saying. "The credits are being delivered to your ship as we speak, we've even added the loss of your lost transport to the cost," he went on in a patronizing tone. "It was nice doing business with you; stay out of trouble and you and your crew might not end up like those pirates down on the surface."  
  
"You're not going back for them?" Mal asked, genuinely surprised at Choi's attitude.  
  
Choi got up from the table and said angrily, "They're criminals! They attacked an alliance out-post, murdered Federal marshals, stole weapons, technology and provisions. They're getting exactly what they deserve."   
  
Mal couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Pirates they may be, but that moon was attacked by Reavers, and unless I'm going senile that moon is still under attack by Reavers. Hell, they've practically set up their own base down there!"  
  
"You're mistaken, Captain," Choi said dismissively. "There's no such thing as Reavers. Local criminals from Talos have been behind these attacks and that's what our forces are trying to contain now."  
  
Mal sat back, stunned. "That's it," he said incredulously. "You write this off as some pirate caper gone south?   
  
"Well this ain't the end of it, more Reavers are out there, in your space," he emphasised. "Skinning and raping your good Alliance citizens. So, yeah, you sit on back and let those *tamade dongwu* do what they want."   
  
Choi folded his arms across his chest, appearing unmoved by Mal's outburst.  
  
"Even after what they done to your own men, you still don't want to accept the truth, do you?" Mal accused. "What the hell are you all so afraid of?"  
  
Sounding irritated Choi stated, "The current outlaw threat in this sector is being quashed, Captain. You've been paid, your ship and crew are intact; what more would you have us do?"  
  
Mal eyed the commander with scorn and rose from the table, there was nothing further to discuss with these bastards he decided.  
  
"Nothing," he said bitterly, "not a gorram thing."   
  
/\~/\  
  
Several seconds after Captain Reynolds had departed, Captain Santos stepped out of the shadows to put a hand on Choi's shoulder.  
  
"You handled that very well, Commander; I'm impressed," he said.  
  
"Just following orders, sir," Choi muttered unhappily.  
  
Santos said mildly, "Orders you weren't willing to entertain twenty-four hours ago."  
  
"I took your advice, and considered my options."  
  
Santos smiled ruefully. "Accepting the truth can sometimes be difficult, Commander Choi, but I'm sure you can see now, that this is for the greater good."  
  
"Yes, sir," Choi replied bleakly.  
  
"Don't ever doubt what we stand for, Commander, and don't ever forget the sacrifices the Alliance have made to get to this point. Your wife and children will sleep better if you bear that in mind."  
  
Choi turned to face Santos. "We can't go on telling everyone that Reavers don't exist, sir; that they're some sort of savage nightmare that colonists and spacers have made up--"  
  
"That's exactly what we'll keep doing," the Hessen's captain interjected. "Out here on the rim; among the core planets; that's exactly what we'll keep telling them."  
  
"But they were our own men! Surely we have a responsibility to put a stop to them? We have to face the truth," Choi demanded.  
  
Groaning, Santos replied, "And let everyone in the Core know that Alliance soldiers couldn't handle the ravages of war? That they went mad and are now terrorising colonists? That truth?"  
  
Choi had no answer.  
  
"You'll do what you've been instructed to do, Commander, and you'll go a lot further if you remember it."  
  
"And Morfan?" Choi asked miserably.  
  
"We'll blow the entire moon back to Earth-that-was if necessary, but nothing that isn't already off the ground is getting out of there now. Serenity's crew aren't a threat, and in time this episode, like so many others, will simply be another campfire story to scare your children with."  
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
Mal led Zoe and Jayne through the air lock linking Serenity with the Hessen. On entering Serenity's cargo bay they were met by the warm and welcoming smiles of Kaylee and Shepherd Book.  
  
"It's good to have you back, Captain," Book said cheerfully.  
  
Mal could barely bring himself to smile in return. His final meeting with the two Alliance officers was still too fresh in his mind.   
  
"Hey, Captain."  
  
Kaylee was standing before him on tiptoes, planting a kiss on his cheek, her eyes twinkling as she stepped back. "Those purple-bellies left us a pile a money," she said, winking and pointing to a corner of the bay.  
  
Mal glanced over and saw two large purses, filled with coin. Alliance coin, guaranteed to be welcome on any planet from here right back to the Central Core.  
  
"Yeah!" cheered Jayne, immediately heading for the sacks. "This is what I call a pay day," he triumphed, hefting the sacks in his hands.  
  
Squeezing Kaylee's shoulder and turning to Book Mal asked, "Did we get boarded?"   
  
Book shook his head, but Kaylee, still beaming answered. "Nope, they just dropped the booty where we told 'em. They didn't look around or nothing, Cap'."  
  
"Good. Simon and River, okay?" he asked, moving away from her to the comm unit by the main doors.   
  
Kaylee had moved to hug Zoe. "Just fine, cap', but we put 'em out of sight, just in case."  
  
"Good girl," he said, and as he was about to hit the comm button Wash's voice blared throughout the cargo bay.  
  
"Zoe, when you're done telling everyone about your thrilling adventures with psychotic and blood-thirsty maniacs, I'd appreciate it if you'd come up here and give your husband the kind of loving reunion he so richly deserves. You know, the kind that writers only hope to articulate and poets only ever scratch the surface of."  
  
Mal stood stiffly as everyone gathered, including Jayne, laughed and snickered.   
  
Zoe, grinning happily, moved to the comm and standing next to Mal she responded into it warmly, "Coming, dear."  
  
Wash's voice reverberated around the bay once more. "Oh yes, baby, *you* will."   
  
Watching Zoe ascend the stairs, Mal activated the comm again. "Wash," he called, "before you all start with that poetic lovin', I'd appreciate it if you got us under way for Talos; we'll pick up Inara, and then we're getting the hell away from this *fangui, chou, pihua dui*."  
  
Silently Mal crossed the bay and held out his hands to Jayne for the money. Hesitating for the briefest of moments Jayne smirked before handing them over.  
  
"Everyone back to work now, fun's over," Mal said following Zoe's path up the stairs.   
  
Making a stop at the kitchen, Mal poured himself a cup of coffee. It was lukewarm, bitter and had the consistency of warm sludge, but he savoured the brew as he drank. Pouring himself another cup to go, he awkwardly carried his mug and the two bags of coin to his bunk.   
  
Not wanting to intrude on Zoe and Wash's moment of reunion, he kept his gaze firmly on the grating below. Using a foot to open his cabin hatch he dropped one of the sacks down to the floor, climbing down after it he activated the cabin lock.  
  
Grateful to be alone at last.  
  
/\~/\  
  
Being out in the black again was a good thing, a peaceful thing. The darkness beyond Serenity was like a familiar blanket, offering the assurance of warmth and safety wrapped up within its embrace.  
  
It was ironic that the truth of that seductive, dark grasp couldn't be more contrary, but Mal couldn't stop looking out into it.  
  
He sat alone on the bridge, shying away from dinner and conversation with the others under the guise of "captainy things" that needing doing. Not one of them had believed him of course, but he didn't expect them to or even care that much that they knew he was lying.  
  
Ever since he'd bought Serenity Mal had felt like a free man, choosing where he worked and when, under the yoke of no other authority but his own.  
  
But what was freedom truly, when you lay down for the highest bidder, or eked out an existence on the scraps of others?   
  
Was that the kind of independence he'd fought for six years ago, to be used and spat out at the other end?  
  
  
  
It was his fault. Flying under the radar, taking jobs that barely paid, letting the ship falter and run out of fuel--his choices, his decisions--all leading them to grovel for handouts at the door of the Alliance. Allowing himself and his crew to be exploited, playing their game of run and fetch like he was born to it.  
  
"Figured you could use something to eat, sir."   
  
Mal didn't need to turn to recognise who was calling out to him, besides, only Zoe called him "sir" on this boat.   
  
Over his left shoulder a plate of mush appeared covered in gravy, a spoon buried within its creamy mound, and over his right a mug of coffee.  
  
"I know you said you weren't hungry earlier on, but you ain't eaten all day so I thought you could use it."  
  
"Appreciate it," Mal said, taking the dishes in hand. Turning towards his first officer he placed the mug on the floor and took a tentative mouthful.   
  
"Mmm," he said digging back in. "Tastes like mash potatoes."  
  
"It is mash potatoes, sir."   
  
He shrugged. "Well, it's good."  
  
"You can thank the Shepherd for it in the morning," she said, slipping gracefully into the co-pilot's seat.  
  
Mal retuned to his meal, the first mouthful of the potatoes and gravy had fired his taste buds and alerted him to his previously ignored hunger. He'd catch Zoe watching him from time to time, but she let him finish his supper in silence.  
  
Mal knew it wasn't just for his well being that she'd brought the food. Swapping the now empty plate for the mug of coffee at his feet, he stared directly at her.  
  
"Shouldn't you be off being poetic with your husband?" he asked.  
  
A smile of satisfaction lit up Zoe's face. "We'll get to round two in a bit," she declared confidently. Schooling her features, she leaned over in her chair, bracing her elbows on her thighs.  
  
"Captain, I know the money for this job was good, and I ain't complaining about our cut--Wash and me are hoping to take a little break--but, sir, I can count as well as you, or Jayne for that matter, so I have to ask; why didn't you take your share?"  
  
Mal took another sip of his coffee and leaned back in his chair. Not much got by Zoe. "Wouldn't be right," he answered. "I know we needed the money, and for now we'll keep flying, but it ain't brought me no peace, Zoe."  
  
"It's not like you can give it back, sir."  
  
"I know it."  
  
"Sir, we knew this was gonna be bad business from the moment we signed on. You know," she said, leaning back and copying Mal's pose, "my Momma always used to say; 'Only Alliance I trust are the ones who are already dead.' And frankly, sir, I always found that quote pretty much the truth of it.  
  
"We did what they asked and nearly got killed for our troubles. Captain, we earned every penny they paid us. *You* earned it."  
  
Mal shook his head, Zoe was right, but that didn't make it any easier for him to accept. "Zoe," he confessed, "life like ours ain't ever gonna be smooth, but desperate or not, I don't ever want to have to take this road again."  
  
Zoe picked up one of Wash's dinosaurs and sat it gently in her lap. "Any ideas on how we're going to avoid it, sir?"  
  
Studying Zoe carefully and then the deep, beckoning, black beyond Serenity, Mal replied regretfully, "I don't know yet, Zoe, I really don't, but I'm working on it."  
  
~~/\~/\~~  
  
Pinyin Translations or as close to as I could find with LJC's help:   
  
meimei - little sister   
  
tamade - fuck   
  
shi da koudai - sack of shit   
  
shi gechu - shit all over   
  
heng, edu nuren's hou bian - fat, malicious woman's backside   
  
dongwu - animal   
  
tamade diyu - fucking hell   
  
quan zhou pa zhu zhengzai benren sou haishi mouwuma? - entire universe crawl into a hole while I was urinating or something?   
  
zhuang pian - to swindle   
  
gos se - dog shit   
  
zhu bian xiang - hog in disguised form   
  
shenme shibu duima - what's wrong?   
  
duibuqi - I'm sorry   
  
shenme á tamadema? - what the fuck?   
  
xiaoxin, bao bei - be careful, baby   
  
ni ye, zhangfu - you too, husband   
  
dong ma - understand   
  
wei ni tamade gan! - don't you fucking dare!   
  
tamade dongwu - fucking animals   
  
fangui, chou, pihua dui - foul, smelly, shit heap 


End file.
